Today we have a Moll shaped hole in our 💔

[EastMidsGPs]

Mollie our lovely elderly piggie died during the night.
She died as she lived quietly and without fuss and this morning I am heart broken.

She was the best of piggies, lovely gentle nature who loved the company of humans and always greeted us with squeaks of delight.
She'd slowed down over the last fortnight and simply got old (nearly 7) and ran out of steam.
RIP Mollie

And now we have the delinquent Sadie to think about, not yet 3 she needs company of her own kind, but I becoming so allergic to gps ... I don't know what to do for the best.

[EastMidsGPs]

Thank you everyone. They are currently outside enjoying gorgeous sunshine. Sadie's missing fur is along a line underneath her swirls. But, she has been moulting copiously and I think it is the stress of losing Moll and gaining Nessa. I have mite treated her today and kept the little one aeay for a while.
She seems ok in herself. As for the lump, well we'll watch and wait.
Blooming pigs ..😃

[dietcokeandwine]

Tricolour pig is 6, that should have read. Not the vet

[dietcokeandwine]

Nessa is super cute. Lovely name too!

Sorry to hear about your Sadie worries. I would just keep an eye if she's not bothered about the bit of hair loss.

With lumps-they definitely can come and go. Our tricolour pig developed a big lump under his chin (when I say big, it was between the size of a large marble and a ping pong ball, if that makes sense). It came up really quickly, almost overnight. His poor little head was tilted in a really uncomfortable looking way and if the lump had got any bigger he'd have had trouble eating. Didn't seem painful, didn't think it was an abscess, went to the vets fearing the worst, he is 6 so no way could operating be a sensible option...Vet said wait and see, and advised twice daily massage of the lump (applying a small amount of pressure but not too much) which might help disperse any fluid build up. Which I did. Lump now almost completely gone, it's now not even pea sized. Tricolour is still full of beans and long may that continue.

Lumps are such a worry but I think they just come and go and some pigs are more prone than others.

[FernieB]

The missing fur could be due to baby pig not appreciating all the washing she’s getting! As Sadie’s not bothered by it, it’s probably nothing serious.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Is the missing fur the result of barbering? Or having a piece of fur hoiked out ?
When we got GP7/GP8 , we watched (in horror) as GP8 pulled a strand of fur out of GP7 (her cagemate) and ate it like spaghetti !

GP8 is 3 now and has various lumps about her (small firm nodules) and a new one on her belly , size of a split pea. Some pigs just get lumps sadly

[EastMidsGPs]

Not red eyed, just the flash.
Sadie is a worry now, we've found an area of missing fur on her left side. She is not itching, scratching or biting it so don't think it is mites. In fact she is ignoring it.She us eating, drinking and has seemed happier. I am hoping it is just stress and a bit if TLC will cure her. I will give her mite treatment just in case.
DH reckons her can feel a small lump, but an convincing myself they do get lumpy and bumpy and she is not yet 3
Lord what a worry.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Awww hello and welcome Nessa

Glad she's settling well (and ear washing is good bonding)

Is she red eyed or is that the flash? Love a red eyed piggie .

[EastMidsGPs]

I may have grown a little

[FernieB]

at Sadie not showing any interest in the crossword! I was stuck on mine at the weekend -I never thought to ask the pigs for help.

[EastMidsGPs]

Thank you FernieB. She's not the prettiest of pigs but was one of 3 and her sisters matched more so would probably be the pair.

DH made the decision to slope off because he was worried about Sadie - apparently she showed no interest in the crossword ( I have no idea what they all get up to when I am not here!) and refused some parsley. He said she seemed depressed.

Anyway, Nessa seems to have settled in, Sadie is ignoring her which I take as a good sign, and Nessa feels a bit damp as she's been washed already today!
She's got a lot of ginger in her colouring and the rest is brown, apart from 4-5 white hairs. How much are you betting it is the white hairs that moult

[FernieB]

Welcome to Nessa! She's so cute. I'm sure Sadie will love being an adoptive mum. I'm so glad she's happy with a new friend. Hope Nessa doesn't trigger too many allergies for you.

The washing sounds familiar. When we adopted baby Gingerpig, Scruffy would wash him frequently (he never washed himself though). Even when Ginger grew to be much bigger than him, Scruffy would still wash his ears daily.

[EastMidsGPs]

Just been sent these 😃😃😃😃


So, DH and Sadie took it upon themselves to go back to the local rescue this morning.

This is what they've returned with!
10 weeks old and born at the rescue from a mum who had been given up for adoption.
Nessa (for that is the name the pair of them have given her) is confident, social, chatty and here to stay. She looks cuter than these photos.
Sadie took to straightaway I'm told and they are currently snuggled up together. Only downside is Sadie keeps washing Nessa - probably checking that she isn't really brown!
Will take more pics once she has settled in.

[EastMidsGPs]

H is at home until Wednesday so Sadie can spend time with him. This will give a but if breathing space whilst we decide our next course of action.
Rescue has sows of varying sizes and ages, we could explore this. For the moment she us making the most if being an only pig

I really miss Moll, had not realised how much she chatted.

[dietcokeandwine]

Aww what a shame. That's exactly what our agouti girl did when I attempted to bond her with our other pigs (although to be fair in our case our tricolour boar is a bit of a thug and not gentlemanly at all and I could kind of see her point). Agouti pig was much happier when we got her a baby sow to boss around live with.

Hopefully you'll be able to find a friend for Sadie soon.

[FernieB]

Poor Roger. Madampig would be happy to lend Gingerpig - I'd love to see Sadie try to tip him over (he's shaped like a weeble). Maybe Sadie sensed Roger had been through two wives and thought he was a philanderer. Has she been watching Dr Foster?

Perhaps she might prefer a sow or a different neutered boar. It could have just been a personality clash. Not all boars are the same.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Awwwww not good news

Sounds like Sadie has my GP8 attitude to match-making (ie a firm "No" )

Might be too early days or it might be she'd be better with a pigletty sow.

Poor ol' Roger , I bet he's never been subject to an attempted tip-over!

[EastMidsGPs]

Well, this morning we learnt that Sadie does not want a husband. She didn't take to Roger (who was a lovely gentle beast) at all.
In fact she was blooming furious at the thought!
She started teeth chattering the minute they met and didn't stop. She rather aggressively snapped at Roger when he tried a gentlemanly sniff. She also tried to tip him over.
Rescue lady and I conceded Roger* is not the answer. So we are back to the drawing board.

*Roger doesn't deserve Sadie's attitude, frankly I was ashamed at her bad behaviour

[dietcokeandwine]

Will be thinking of you tomorrow. Here's hoping Sadie and Roger hit it off!

[FernieB]

Good luck with Roger! Hopefully after having 2 previous wives, he knows how to behave.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Fingers and claws crossed, Roger sounds like he was Destiny

Hope all goes well, best behaviour Sadie !

[fortifiedwithtea]

So sorry to hear about Mollie, she had a wonderful life with you and a peaceful end.

Roger sounds ideal, fingers crossed it works out.

[EastMidsGPs]

Well the world still seems very strange and Sadie isn't enjoying life so ........

After Mollie's state funeral on Saturday (she's currently in the chest freezer 😞) we are off to meet and date Roger.

Roger is around 4, mainly black, is neutered and in our local rescue after losing his last wife - he started with 2!

So fingers and 🐾🐾 crossed please.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

The 70 hogs keep up the tradition of The Scruffy Tea every now'n'then.

[FernieB]

She clearly had a lovely last few days with you all. It's amazing how quiet it seems when one of them pops off. When we've just been down to one pig, the house is eerily silent, even though the remaining one generally still shouts if I touch/walk past/breath near the fridge. And when the whole Fernie brood is off at boarding, I don't like my home it feels weird.

I have photos of all our current and previous furry brood on the fridge. Had to update it this week as we realised Madampig wasn't up there yet. I still sometimes get a lump in my throats when I see the photos of Smoothpig, Scruffypig and PreviousBun. And I never make 'Scruffy Tea' (green veg only because that was all he would eat) any more for the pigs.

Sadie may love a husband especially if she has no interest in being dominant. A boar would possibly be quite protective of her but she'd still be able to steal his food and boss him at will. Although your DH may not appreciate the competition

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

It's interesting East that she smelled 'different' , it's sometimes these really subtle signs that give it away (and the non eating is a huge pointer to pig unwell-ness, these animals are stomachs on legs)